Single Farm Payment Scheme

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs If she will make a statement on the implementation of the single farm payment scheme.

Margaret Beckett: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary (Jim Knight) announced on 31 January that full payments under the single payment scheme will commence in February 2006. Staff are working exceedingly hard to ensure that this expectation is turned into a reality.

Single Farm Payment Scheme

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of single farm payments she expects to have been paid by the end of February 2006.

Margaret Beckett: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary (Jim Knight) on 31 January confirmed that SPS payments will commence before the end of February, with the bulk of payments being made by the end of March.

Nuclear Waste

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her latest estimate is of the costs associated with the management of the stockpile of radioactive waste; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The total cost of operating, cleaning up and decommissioning the UK's publicly-owned civil nuclear sites, for which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has been given responsibility, is currently estimated at £56 billion. This figure includes the costs of interim management of waste arising from decommissioning and clean-up activity. The cost of any facility, or facilities that will be needed in light of CoRWM recommendation for the final long-term management higher activity wastes will be additional to this.

Animal Welfare

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will implement the recommendation contained in paragraph 200 in the Farm Animal Welfare Council's report "Welfare of farmed animals at slaughter or killing", published in 2003.

Ben Bradshaw: No.

Forestry

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of England is covered by ancient woodland; and what steps she has taken to halt its decline.

Jim Knight: In June last year I launched "Keepers of Time: a statement policy for England's ancient and native woodland", which at around 340,000 hectares makes up just under 3 per cent. of our land area.
	Our vision is that ancient woodlands, veteran trees and other native woodlands are adequately protected, sustainably managed in a wider landscape context, and are providing a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits to society.
	The Action Plan for 2005–07, which accompanied the policy statement, set out a broad range of actions aimed at achieving our strategic objectives, which includes halting the decline.

Woodland

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to use native woodland creation to tackle (a) habitat fragmentation, (b) flooding and (c) climate change.

Jim Knight: Our statement of policy for England's ancient and native woodlands "Keepers of Time" which we published last year sets out a number of strategic objectives which include the creation of new native woodland to extend, link arid complement existing woodland and other habitats. It also sets the objective of increasing the recognition and use of 'environmental services' which native woodland can provide, for example flood alleviation and pollution mitigation.
	The England forestry strategy review and the review of the UK climate change programme are looking at how existing policies are performing and the range of polices that might be put in place in the future.

Official Travel

David Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister what the total cost was of his overnight accommodation during official travel in each year since he became Prime Minister.

Tony Blair: The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
	However in respect of overseas travel, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Copies of these lists are available in the Library of the House. Information on the number of officials accompanying Ministers on overseas visits is included in the list. All Ministers travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in Chapter 10 of the ministerial code, and the accompanying guidance document, "Travel by Ministers". Information for the year 2005–06 will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the financial year.

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual expenditure on (a) fixtures and fittings, (b) general office expenses and (c) office equipment was of (i) her Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body and (B) executive agency, (C) other public body for which her Department is responsible in each English region in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06 in each case.

David Lammy: Expenditure by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on fixtures and fittings was £477,000 in 2002–03, £475,000 in 2003–04 and £335,000 in 2004–05; with planned expenditure of £100,000 in 2005 -06.
	The term "general office expenses" is neither used as part of the Department's accounting procedures, nor those of the Royal Parks Agency.
	Annual expenditure by the Department on office equipment, including computers, was £938,000 in 2002–03, £958,000 in 2003–04, £1,100,000 in 2004–05; with planned expenditure of £350,000 in 2005–06.
	The Royal Parks Agency's accounts do not identify separately figures for fixtures and fittings and attempts to provide these would be at disproportionate cost.
	Annual expenditure by the Royal Parks Agency on office equipment, including computers, was £11,000 in both 2002–03 and 2003–04, £23,000 in 2004–05, with planned expenditure of £23,000 in 2005–06.
	Information requested in respect of the non departmental public bodies could be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Olympics 2012

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the statement at her Department's Olympic summit on 24 January, if she will provide a breakdown by main budget heading of the £3.3 billion cost of infrastructure.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 30 January 2006
	The figure of 3 billion that I mentioned on 24 January comprises £2 billion for the Olympic venues and infrastructure to be met from the Public Sector Funding Package. The other £1 billion is to meet the costs of infrastructure works already planned and budgeted as part of the general regeneration of the lower Lea valley.

Administrative Costs

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the administrative costs were of each agency for which he has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable.

Alan Johnson: Administrative costs (net) for the Department's Agencies for 2004–05 are:
	
		
			  £000s 
		
		
			 Small Business Service (SBS) 18,036 
			 Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) 27,593 
			 Insolvency Service (INSS) 71 
			 National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) (108) 
		
	
	The figures for SBS and ETS are taken from their annual reports and resource accounts (HC 371 and HC 180 respectively). The figures for INSS and NWML are taken from the provisional departmental administration costs outturns disclosed in the most recent "Public Expenditure" White Paper (CMD 6639) as their net administration costs are not readily identifiable from their resource accounts.
	For the purposes of the country and regional analysis exercise, from which data is disclosed in chapter 8 of the annual public expenditure statistical analyses, the costs of the Employment Tribunals Service are regarded as identifiable, those of the Insolvency Service and National Weights and Measures Laboratory as non-identifiable.

Office Equipment

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) his Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each of the English regions and (4) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05.

Alan Johnson: In 2000 the Department of Trade and Industry transferred ownership of its core IT infrastructure as part of a long-term private finance initiative (PFI) agreement to a consortium led by Fujitsu. The use of IT equipment such as PCs, laptops, servers, scanners and printers is now, in the main, provided as a service through the PFI partner, Fujitsu. The use of photocopiers is also provided mainly through supplier leasing arrangements. Details of fax machines owned by the Department are shown in the following table. The chief executives of the Department's Agencies have been asked to write to the hon. Member in respect of their equipment holdings.
	
		Department of Trade and Industry: fax machines Number
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 East Midlands 3 3 
			 Eastern 4 4 
			 London 214 183 
			 North East 12 12 
			 North West 2 2 
			 Scotland 10 10 
			 South East 3 3 
			 South West 4 4 
			 Wales 6 6 
			 West Midlands 4 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 8 8 
			 Total 270 239 
		
	
	Letter from John Taylor, dated 2 February 2006
	The data about quantities and locations of Acas office equipment requested in this written Parliamentary Question are set out in the attached tables.
	
		ACAS equipment by location, 2003–04
		
			 Region Fax Laptop PC Photocopier Printer Scanner Server 
		
		
			 Scotland 14 12 75 3 39 0 1 
			 Wales 10 12 43 2 29 0 3 
			 East 20 14 43 3 28 0 1 
			 East Midlands 12 12 68 3 50 0 9 
			 London 109 349 537 11 313 5 33 
			 North East 11 33 42 3 22 0 1 
			 North West 39 29 110 4 59 0 2 
			 South East 58 27 114 2 80 1 5 
			 South West 14 12 63 2 31 1 2 
			 West Midlands 27 43 52 4 40 0 1 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 22 34 47 3 45 0 2 
			 Northern Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Grand Total 336 577 1,194 40 736 7 60 
		
	
	
		ACAS equipment by location, 2004–05
		
			 Region Fax Laptop PC Photocopier Printer Scanner Server 
		
		
			 Scotland 14 17 67 3 42 0 1 
			 Wales 11 17 41 3 29 0 2 
			 East 18 40 45 3 32 0 2 
			 East Midlands 11 13 64 3 35 0 2 
			 London 118 263 704 11 280 9 52 
			 North East 10 31 40 3 22 0 1 
			 North West 44 44 129 3 67 0 3 
			 South East 65 34 125 2 107 0 4 
			 South West 12 8 59 2 28 1 1 
			 West Midlands 30 46 47 4 43 0 0 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 22 39 59 3 45 0 2 
			 Northern Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Grand Total 355 554 1,380 40 730 10 70 
		
	
	Letter from Tim Moss, dated 2 February 2006
	I am responding to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of the DTI.
	The number of pieces of equipment in each area is as follows:
	
		
			  2004–05 2003–04 
			  Scotland Wales London Scotland Wales London 
		
		
			 (a) Personal computers 62 1,216 11 62 899 11 
			 (b) Laptops 0 52 0 0 37 0 
			 (c) Servers 2 154 0 2 149 0 
			 (d) Printers 7 334 4 7 292 4 
			 (e) Scanners 1 14 0 1 11 0 
			 (f) Photocopiers 1 28 1 1 28 1 
			 (g) Fax machines 1 38 1 1 33 1 
			 (h) Multi-function (copier, printer, fax) 0 7 0 0 2 0 
		
	
	We do not have an office in Northern Ireland and consequently no equipment.
	Letter from Desmond Flynn, dated 2 February 2006
	The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2005/2566) asking about our holdings of personal computers and associated equipment and office photocopiers and faxes in 2003–4 and 2004–5, broken down by region.
	I enclose a table showing the information requested.
	
		The Insolvency Service: computer equipment and office machinery holdings
		
			  Personal Computers Laptops Servers Printers Scanners Copiers Fax machines 
		
		
			 2003–04
			 East Midlands 95 0 9 13 0 5 3 
			 Eastern 164 0 15 19 0 12 9 
			 London 425 70 18 50 4 10 18 
			 North East 119 0 9 13 0 6 5 
			 North West 198 1 12 22 0 10 8 
			 Scotland 11 0 0 2 0 3 2 
			 South East 208 1 15 23 0 9 11 
			 South West 197 1 18 26 2 11 11 
			 Wales 62 0 6 8 0 4 2 
			 West Midlands 290 25 27 40 2 10 14 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 63 0 6 8 0 4 2 
			 Total 1,832 98 135 224 8 84 85 
			 
			 2004–05
			 East Midlands 105 4 6 16 0 5 3 
			 Eastern 177 8 10 23 0 13 9 
			 London 469 76 22 85 6 10 18 
			 North East 136 9 6 16 0 6 5 
			 North West 208 21 8 33 0 10 8 
			 Scotland 11 1 0 2 0 3 2 
			 South East 229 10 10 28 0 10 11 
			 South West 220 9 12 34 2 11 11 
			 Wales 67 4 4 13 0 3 2 
			 West Midlands 383 36 26 46 4 11 16 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 76 9 4 9 0 4 2 
			 Total 2,081 187 108 305 12 86 87 
		
	
	Letter from Jeanne Spinks, dated 2 February 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) his Department, (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each of the English regions and (4) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05.
	The figures are as follows.
	
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 
			  Scotland Wales England Scotland Wales England 
		
		
			 (a) PCs 3 4 62 3 4 61 
			 (b) Laptops 3 1 47 3 1 47 
			 (c) Servers 3 0 14 3 0 13 
			 (d) Printers 26 24 315 26 22 313 
			 (e) Scanners 0 0 6 0 0 6 
			 (f) Photocopiers 0 0 8 0 0 8 
			 (g) Fax Machines 4 1 47 4 1 46 
		
	
	Letter from Dr. Jeff Llewellyn, dated 2 February 2006
	The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question regarding how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) his Department, (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each of the English regions and (4) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05.
	The IT equipment in use in NWML for the years 2003–04 and 2004–05 is shown in the table below:
	
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Personal Computers 75 86 
			 Laptops 13 17 
			 Servers 8 14 
			 Printers 18 11 
			 Scanners 3 4 
			 Photocopiers (3)0 (3)0 
			 Fax Machines 3 3 
		
	
	(3) Three leased.
	This is a hardware list that includes laboratory equipment. It does not include network infrastructure, peripherals or software.
	Letter from Ron Marchant, dated 2 February 2006
	I am responding to this parliamentary question, tabled on 20 December 2005, regarding what equipment the Patent Office owned in 2003–04 and 2004–05
	
		
			  31 December: 
			  2003 2004 
		
		
			 Personal Computers 1,650 1,761 
			 Laptops 194 217 
			 Servers 78 89 
			 Printers 1,333 1,418 
			 Scanners 80 75 
			 Photocopiers(4) 41 41 
			 Faxes 52 36 
		
	
	(4) Photocopiers were leased rather than owned.

Cycling

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on cycling safety in each of the last 20 years.

Stephen Ladyman: Most spending on cycle safety in England is undertaken by local highway authorities. This includes capital spending on infrastructure schemes such as cycle lanes, which may have traffic management as well as safety benefits. It also includes revenue spending on cycle training, other educational initiatives and local cycle safety publicity. Since 2001–02, capital spending by English authorities outside London has been recorded through the local transport plan system, but this was not recorded centrally for earlier years. Revenue spending on road safety comes from local authorities' own resources and is not recorded centrally.
	The Department for Transport also produces cycle safety publicity and resources at national level. Figures for annual spending are only available as far back as 2002–03. Our road safety challenge grant scheme, which has been running since 2002–03, has funded a number of projects that are wholly or partly to improve cycle safety. Figures for spending on cycle safety projects under previous grant schemes are not available. The Department also includes projects on cycle safety in its road safety research programme, though figures are available only from 1999–2000.
	The Department has also from time to time funded various schemes to promote cycling, including infrastructure, facilities and training, which will have included safety benefits. From 2005–06, this role has been taken on by Cycling England, which now receives £5 million per year from the Department, to spend on a range of infrastructure, training and publicity measures.
	Available figures are shown in the following table. These may include amounts sent on cycling infrastructure and facilities that was not entirely safety-related and amounts spent on road safety publicity and education that was not entirely cycling related. These figures do not include spending on infrastructure, facilities, education and publicity that had wider road safety benefits for all road users, including cyclists. No figures are available for earlier years.
	
		
			   £ million 
			  LA capital spending on cycle infrastructure (England outside London) LA capital spending on cycle infrastructure (London) LA revenue spending on cycle training, education and publicity DfT spending on grants for cycle safety schemes and on cycle safety publicity DfT spending on cycle safety research DfT spending on cycle promotion, with some safety benefits (Cycling England from 2005–06) 
		
		
			 1996–97 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 2.00 
			 1997–98 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 1998–99 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 
			 1999–2000 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 0.06 (5)— 
			 2000–01 (5)— (5)— (5)— (5)— 0.00 (5)— 
			 2001–02 29.58 £50 million (5)— (5)— 0.02 (5)— 
			 2002–03 39.90 1/2over 5 years (5)— 0.06 0.06 2.18 
			 2003–04 32.13 (no breakdown (5)— 0.18 0.00 2.19. 
			 2004–05 38.89 1/2available) (5)— 0.07 0.05 10.12 
			 2005–06 35.39  (5)— 0.27 0.06 5.00 
		
	
	(5) unknown

Marine Oil Pollution

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps have been taken to prevent ships at sea spilling oil since the Sea Empress oil spill; and what further steps he plans to take.

Stephen Ladyman: The UK Government have played a key role, internationally, regionally and nationally, in developing many measures to prevent, or mitigate the consequences of, oil spills from ships during the 10 years since the Sea Empress oil spill in February 1996. The most significant measures are as follows:
	In 1994, recognising the value of tugs in preventing groundings and other incidents, the UK introduced Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) on a trial basis. Initially ETVs were stationed at Dover and Stornoway for the winter months only. After further review, the number of ETVs was increased to four—stationed at Dover, Stornoway, the Fair Isle Channel, and in the South West approaches—and since October 2001 all four ETVs have been on station all year round.
	The UK participated fully in the adoption in 1996 of the Hazardous and Noxious Substances Convention which will provide compensation cover similar to the international oil pollution compensation regime but for other oils and chemicals, and also for explosion, death or injury from such products.
	In 1997 the UK co-ordinated an EU member states' initiative at the IMO to have the whole of the North Sea, and all waters around the UK and Ireland, declared a special area for the purposes of protecting those waters from operational discharges of oil from shipping.
	The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency has a dedicated Enforcement Unit. In 1997, legislation was passed to enable magistrates to impose a fine of up to £250,000 on either the master or the ship-owner for an oil pollution offence; this is the highest fine for any offence in a magistrates court.
	In 2000, following a wide-ranging review, the UK published a revised "National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations", setting out how the relevant agencies and authorities in the UK will respond to such incidents. The UK has also created the role of the Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP). On behalf of the Secretary of State, SOSREP has the power to oversee, control and—if necessary—intervene in salvage operations within UK waters involving vessels or fixed platforms where there is a significant risk of pollution. To reduce the risk of pollution of our seas and coasts, SOSREP can direct vessels which are in difficulties to a suitable place of refuge. The powers of direction invested in SOSREP are extensive, and are called into play when he believes that the public interest is not being adequately protected. The SOSREP role has proved very successful, as well as being an international first for the UK.
	In 2000 the UK initiated action at the IMO to increase the limit of compensation under the 1992 CLC/Fund regime by a further 50 per cent. to £177 million, with effect from 1 November 2003.
	In 2001, along with six other states, the UK pressed for a world-wide initiative to create a Supplementary Fund to the 1992 CLC/Fund to provide further substantial compensation for the most serious oil spills.
	The UK was one of the countries, which developed the Bunkers Convention 2001, which establishes a liability regime for pollution from ships' fuel oils.
	The UK played a leading role in the EU and the IMO to secure international agreement to accelerate the phasing out of single hull oil tankers. Double hulls can provide additional protection against spillage in the event of collisions and groundings.
	The UK played an active part in the work leading to the development of the EC Vessel traffic monitoring and information system Directive, which covers reporting requirements on ships with dangerous cargoes, the installation of Voyage Data Recorders on ships, the installation of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) on ships and the establishment of shore-based stations to receive AIS5 information; exchange of vessel traffic information; places of refuge; and measures for shore authorities to take in bad weather conditions. The UK implemented the Directive in national law in 2005.
	The UK played a leading role in the IMO in achieving the designation of the Western European Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), which includes a substantial proportion of the UK's seas and coasts. The PSSA came into effect on 1 July 2005. The protective measure for the PSSA is a mandatory reporting system. The reporting system applies to all tankers of more than 600 deadweight tonnes (dwt) carrying heavy grades of oil.
	As regards further steps:
	The Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill is currently going through Parliament which will enable the UK to ratify and implement the Supplementary Fund Protocol to the Fund Convention, thereby increasing the amount of compensation available for any one incident to some £621 million.
	In addition, work on vessel routeing and traffic management measures has progressed to take account of wider developments in UK policy on the sustainable use of the marine environment, such as the growth in offshore renewable energy, the Government's commitment to introducing a Marine Bill, developments in thinking on marine spatial planning and advances in e-navigation technology. As part of this process, considerable work has gone into the identification of Marine Environmental High Risk Areas and an announcement will be made shortly.

Schools (Road Safety)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has allocated funding to local authorities for road safety initiatives outside schools since May 2002.

Karen Buck: The Department is funding a number of local authority initiatives which will improve road safety for children, including the "Kerbcraft" child pedestrian training programme and "travelling to school" project which we support jointly with DfES. Mainstream funding for all transport improvements, including road safety schemes, is allocated to local authorities through the Local Transport Plan system.

IT Failures

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what computerisation or IT failures have occurred in projects managed by the Cabinet Office in each year since 1997; what the contracted cost of the project was in each case; and what estimate he has made of the direct and indirect costs of failure in each case.

Jim Murphy: pursuant to the reply, 5 October 2005, Official Report, c. 773W
	I regret the figure quoted in relation to the original contract value of the contract with ITNET of £84 million in the final paragraph was incorrect.
	The final paragraph should read as follows:
	"The second IT failure was with the data centre and hosting management service to be provided by ITNET whose contract was terminated in 2004. The original contract value was £83 million. A total of £5 million was paid up to the point of termination of the contract."

EU Gendarmerie Force

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the estimate annual cost is of the EU Gendarmerie Force launched at Vicenza on 19 January.

Douglas Alexander: We do not know of any estimated annual cost of the European Gendarmerie Force. Costs would be a matter for the participating nations.

Carers

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent research her Department has carried out to estimate (a) the number of school age young carers and (b) the average number of hours per week that such carers spend on their caring roles.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 20 January 2006
	The Department has not carried out research to estimate these figures. Data on young carers is available from the 2001 Census of Population.
	The Census established that there were about 150,000 children and young people under 18 in England and Wales who provided some form of care for family members. A full breakdown of the age and numbers of young carers by the number of hours a week when they provided care can be found in the following table.
	
		Age and number of young carers in England and Wales, by hours caring per week (2001 Census)
		
			  1–19 hours 20–49 hours 50+ hours Total number Total (percentage) 
		
		
			 0–4 0 0 0 0 0 
			 5–7 4,161 512 792 5,465 4 
			 8–9 6,361 610 863 7,834 5 
			 10–11 13,272 1,180 1,360 16,267 11 
			 12–14 39,983 3,429 2,982 46,394 31 
			 15 18,265 1,865 1,272 21,402 14 
			 16–17 43,179 5,717 3,684 52,580 35 
			 All 125,676 13,313 10,953 149,942 100 
			 All (percentage) 84 9 7 100  
		
	
	Source:
	Becker (2004)
	The table shows that 84 per cent. of young carers spend between one and 19 hours in their caring role and 7 per cent. spend over 50 hours caring per week. Some of these young carers are as young as 5–7 years old.
	Further information on this topic can be found in Young Carers in the UK: The 2004 Report published by Carers UK. This is the third survey of young carers who are being supported by specialist young carers' projects in the UK http://www.carersuk.om/Policyandpractice/Research/YounQcarersReport2004.pdf. A merged reply to three written parliamentary questions (44305, 44307 and 44132) given on 20 January 2006 contains further information on the issue of young carers.

Contact Orders

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have been killed during contact visits after contact orders were granted to parents who were known to be violent in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The Government do not collect statistics on how many children have been killed during contact visits after contact orders were granted to parents who were known to be violent.
	The Government's guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (1999) sets out that in any case where a child dies and abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor in the child's death, the case should be examined through a local serious case review. The Government commission national reports which draw out the lessons to be learned from these reviews.
	We plan to strengthen systems for reviewing child deaths by giving the new local safeguarding children boards a function of collecting and analysing information about each child death. This is with a view to identifying any case giving rise to the need for a serious case review, any matters of concern affecting the safety and welfare of children in the local area, and any wider public health or safety concerns arising from a particular death or from a pattern of deaths in that area. We plan to trial these arrangements between 2006 and 2008.

Correspondence

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will respond to the letters of 31 October and 25 November 2005 from the hon. Member for West Derbyshire, on teachers' ineligibility for child care vouchers.

Jacqui Smith: I replied to the hon. Member's letter on 27 January.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people were (a) eligible for and (b) took up education maintenance allowances in (i) Barnsley and (ii) Doncaster in the last year for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 23 January 2006
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked "how many people were (a) eligible for and (b) took up education maintenance allowances in (i) Barnsley and (ii) Doncaster in the last year for which figures are available?"
	During the academic year 2004/05, 1,821 young people in Barnsley Local Education Authority and 2,707 young people in Doncaster Local Education Authority received one or more EMA payments.
	During the academic year 2004/05, EMA was available to all 16 years olds nationally and to 17 and 18 years olds in former pilot areas (young people who are 19 are entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances). Both Barnsley and Doncaster Local Education Authorities were former pilot areas.
	In preparation for the roll-out, projections of the number of young people eligible for EMA were only made for 16 years olds. The projections are formed by applying income distributions (derived from the Family Resources Survey) and expected numbers in full-time further education to the estimated population of 16 years olds. When applied to individual localities the figures may be subject to some variation but they provide a useful estimate. The following table displays the data for Barnsley and Doncaster.
	
		Take-Up of EMA by 16-years-olds in 2004/05
		
			 LEA Projected number eligible Actual Take-Up Percentage Take-Up 
		
		
			 Barnsley 1,250 1,062 84.96 
			 Doncaster 1,770 1,451 81.98 
		
	
	This compares against a national take-up of 82% (calculated as the total number of 16 years olds who received EMA against the projected number eligible to receive payment).
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or Christopher Bradley@lsc.gov.uk

Further Education

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will rank further education colleges in England by the correlation between funding per full-time equivalent student and all year qualification success rate.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 24 January 2006
	Qualification success rates for each college are available from the LSC website (http://benchmarkingdata.lsc. gov.uk/year8/index.cfm by downloading the file "Institution level success rates: Excel file qualification aim data").
	Funding data are also available for each college on the LSC website (http://www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Documents/SubjectListing/SectorData/CollegeAccounts/default.htm).
	We do not benchmark colleges by full-time equivalent student numbers, but in the light of the Foster report we are considering the development of a value for money measure which will be used to benchmark college efficiency.

Identity Fraud

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training the Department has provided for (a) front desk and (b) administrative staff in relation to identity fraud.

Maria Eagle: The Department does provides training for front desk staff (receptionists and security guards) dealing with the public face to face. The induction training includes validating whether a person is who they say they are and whether they are allowed on site in their own right or whether they need to be escorted. After the induction, appointee must sign a declaration that they understand what they have been taught, that they know where the assignment instructions are kept should they need to refer to them and that they know who to contact for further guidance.
	In respect of administration staff, dealing with verifying identity is part of the Department's work in administering vetting cases and, in HR, when recruiting new members of staff. The Departments Special Investigations Unit also provides fraud awareness training to divisions on request.

Pupil Performance

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on producing the revised version of the 2005 unvalidated Secondary Performance and Assessment reports; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: These are matters for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Maurice Smith, has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Maurice Smith, dated 30 January 2006
	Your recent parliamentary question has been referred to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of schools, for reply.
	You asked how much was spent on producing the revised version of the 2005 unvalidated Secondary Performance and Assessment reports.
	In response, the "New Style" PANDA based on 2005 unvalidated data released on 23 December 2005 contained an error. The analysis in table 3.4.14 excluded A* grades from the calculations. The error required one line of programming code to be corrected. Following the correction the production of the revised documents required IT processing time which incurred no additional cost. The only additional cost was for a letter sent to all secondary schools informing them of the error and the remedial action being taken. This additional letter cost £1,500.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jacqui Smith and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

University Students

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which 10 universities attracted the (a) highest and (b) lowest numbers of students from working class backgrounds in the last period for which figures are available.

Bill Rammell: Information for Higher Education Institutions is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in the annual publication "Performance Indicators in Higher Education". The latest available figures on the percentage of young full time first degree entrants from National Statistics—Socio Economic Classes (NS-SEC) 4, 5, 6 and 7 are shown in the table.
	
		Percentage of young full-time first degree entrants from National Statistics—Socio Economic Classes 4–7—English HE institutions—2003/04
		
			 HE institution Number of young full time first degree entrants Percentage with known data Percentage from NS-SEC 4–7(15) 
		
		
			 10 institutions with the highest percentage
			 Harper Adams University College 210 89.6 68.3 
			 University of Bradford 1,185 71.4 49.2 
			 Newman College of HE 255 73.5 48.7 
			 University of Wolverhampton 2,160 70.5 48.5 
			 University of Greenwich 1,595 71.5 45.8 
			 University of Luton 600 62.3 44.8 
			 Middlesex University 1,840 53.5 44.0 
			 Bishop Grosseteste College 215 88.4 43.5 
			 London Metropolitan University 1,890 48.9 43.0 
			 University of Westminster 2,670 66.6 43.0 
			 
			 10 institutions with the lowest percentage
			 Royal Veterinary College 225 95.2 17.1 
			 University of Exeter 2,220 92.2 16.6 
			 University of York 1,940 93.9 16.6 
			 University of Nottingham 4,090 94.7 16.1 
			 University of Durham 3,295 92.9 15.8 
			 University of Bristol 2,725 93.8 14.1 
			 University of Oxford 2,895 95.0 11.5 
			 University of Cambridge 2,900 95.3 11.4 
			 Courtauld Institute of Art 35 97.1 9.1 
			 Royal Academy of Music 65 91.0 8.2 
		
	
	(15) 4: small employers and own account workers
	5: lower supervisory and technical occupations
	6: semi-routine occupations
	7: routine occupations
	Source:
	Higher education Statistics Agency (HESA) 'Performance Indicators in HE'.

Vocational Education

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on her policy to extend vocational curriculum options for children aged 14-to-16 years.

Phil Hope: The 14-to-9 Education and Skills White Paper and the Implementation Plan (published December 2005) lay out detailed proposals for changes to the 14-to-19 curriculum. Key to these changes is the introduction of specialised diplomas, which will be available to young people from age 14, in 14 sector-related lines of learning. Specialised diplomas will provide young people with the skills and knowledge they need to progress into skilled employment, training and further or higher education; the diplomas will have a significant focus on applied learning. Employers are leading on the content development of the specialised diplomas, to ensure that these qualifications teach young people skills that have real currency in the labour market. The first five diplomas will be piloted from 2008; all 14 lines will be available from 2010, and there will be a national entitlement to a diploma course from 2013.
	The 14-to-19 Education and Skills White Paper also proposed a work-focused programme to motivate 14-to-16 year-olds with relatively low attainment, who are at serious risk of disaffection, building on the lessons of the Entry to Employment programme for 16-to-19 year-olds. Pilots are to start from 2006–7, and the White Paper suggested a figure of up to 10,000 young people on the programme from 2007–8.
	The Young Apprentices programme, which provides an opportunity for 14-to-16 year olds to gain a taste of 'real work' through two days a week (or equivalent) work experience, and to pursue qualifications that relate to particular occupational sectors, as well as following core national curriculum subjects, will continue to run. So too will the Increased Flexibility Programme, in which 14-to-16 year olds have the opportunity to study off-site at a college or training provider for one or two days a week throughout Key Stage 4. The pupils may work towards vocational and work related qualifications, and so develop their knowledge and understanding in a work context. GCSEs in vocational subjects will also continue to be offered: there are currently eight titles available, each of which is a double award. A further six titles are being developed; in some cases, these will be single, rather than double, awards.
	In addition to these specific learning programmes, from September 2004 there has also been a statutory requirement for all pupils to undertake some work-related learning at Key Stage 4, through planned activity that uses the context of work to develop knowledge, skills and understanding useful for work.

16th Air Assault Brigade

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether assets and units of 16th Air Assault Brigade will be made available for taking part in the US Operation Enduring Freedom.

John Reid: holding answer 31 January 2006
	United Kingdom forces deploying to Southern Afghanistan—including elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade—will carry out tasks identified by NATO to help build the capacity of the Afghan Government, maintain security, and help the Afghanis rebuild their economy and society; they will initially come under Coalition command until Transfer of Authority for Stage III of ISAF expansion to NATO. UK forces will continue to operate under UK targeting directives and UK Rules of Engagement. Throughout, the UK force will operate in pursuit of the ISAF objectives.

Conflict Prevention

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of his Department's budget was allocated to conflict prevention in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06.

Adam Ingram: All Defence expenditure contributes to the overarching Defence aim, which is to
	"deliver security for the people of the United Kingdom and the overseas territories by defending them, including against terrorism, and to act as a force for good by strengthening international peace and security."
	Conflict prevention is an integral part of this.
	The costs of specific conflict prevention activities (including security and peace-building tasks) are voted for separately by Parliament, through either the HM Treasury reserve or the conflict prevention pools. As such, these funds do not form part of the Defence budget.
	On this basis, the Department was voted additional resources for conflict prevention activities of around £1.5 billion in 2003–04 and £1.1 billion in 2004–05. For the financial year 2005–06, the resources required based on the level of conflict prevention activity in the financial year will be reflected in the spring supplementary estimates.

Gulf War Illness

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research has been provided to the Government on a possible relationship between the self reported use of nerve agent pre-treatment tablets and incidence of Gulf war illness.

Don Touhig: Research provided to the Government on possible associations between ill health among veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and exposures, including nerve agent pre-treatment set tablets, is generally in the form of published peer-reviewed medical/scientific papers and academic systematic reviews of such papers. Two reviews are considered of particular significance and authority.
	The active ingredient in NAPS tablets is the compound Pyridostigmine Bromide (PB). In 2000, the US Institute of Medicine's review "Gulf War and Health: Volume 1. Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin, and Vaccines", concluded that there was inadequate/insufficient evidence to determine whether an association does or does not exist between PB and long-term adverse health effects. In 2003, the UK Medical Research Council's review of research into UK Gulf veterans' illnesses noted that for many years PB has been used routinely to treat neuromuscular disease. This had involved much higher doses administered over long periods of time. No serious side effects have been observed as a result of the use of PB in this latter context.

Iraq

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the average number of insurgent attacks in Multinational Division South East is for each month since January; where they have occurred; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many incidents in Multinational Division South East for each month since January have been caused by use of improvised explosive devices; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: The total number of attacks in Multinational Division (South East) since January 2005 is 562 making the monthly average 46.8. We assess that 115 have been caused by improvised explosive devices. This makes the monthly average 9.5.

Iraq

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers have been wounded in Iraq; how many were returned home as a result of their injuries; and whether his Department keeps records of their geographical location in the UK when they return.

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British (a) servicemen and (b) women have been very seriously injured in Iraq in each month since March 2003.

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel in Iraq were wounded in (a) action and (b) accidents in each year since hostilities began, broken down by severity of injury.

John Reid: holding answers 20 December 2005 and 26 January 2006
	Centrally available records show that some 230 UK personnel have been treated at UK medical facilities in theatre for wounds received as a result of hostile action between March 2003 and December 2005 1 .
	Our Notification of Casualty reporting records also allow us to give a figure for those categorised in theatre as Very Seriously Ill/Injured/Wounded (VSI), meaning that their life was imminently endangered. Some 40 personnel were categorised as VSI as a result of injury or wounds, however caused, in Iraq between March 2003 and December 2005 2 .
	Separate records show that between February 2003 and December 2005 some 4,000 military and civilian personnel (including a few Iraqis) have been medically evacuated from theatre. The great majority of cases were due to illness or accidental injury and not as a result of hostile action.
	The MOD intends to publish casualty figures for Iraq on the MOD website in the next few weeks, identifying the number of personnel categorised as "Seriously Injured" and "Very Seriously Injured". The figures will be updated regularly. I will write to inform the hon. and right hon. Members prior to the first publication.
	The Ministry of Defence keeps records of all armed forces personnel currently serving and where they are located. The Veterans Agency maintains up to date records of those troops that have been medically discharged in order to pay their medical pensions.
	1 Before October 2004, we only have centrally held records for the Shaibah UK Field Hospital. The figure does not include, for example, UK casualties of hostile action who were treated either by other UK Field Hospitals (early stages of operation only—for which unit records are not held centrally) or by coalition partners, or those with more minor injuries who did not receive Field Hospital treatment. From October 2004, the figure relates to all those wounded who were treated in any of the UK medical facilities in the UK-led Multi-National Division South East MND(SE) area. This figure excludes any personnel who subsequently died.
	2 The VSI figure excludes any personnel who subsequently died.

Territorial Army

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Territorial Army bounty is for (a) the first year, (b) the second year, (c) the third and fourth years and (d) five years and above; and how many bounties were claimed in respect of each band for 2004–05.

Don Touhig: The rates of Territorial Army bounty can be found in the following table.
	
		Rates of training bounty payable from April 2005-April 2006 £
		
			  1st year 2nd year 3rd/4th year 5th and subsequent years 
		
		
			 Group A (Higher Training obligations for officers and soldiers) 371.00 816.00 1,260.00 1,462.00 
			 Group A (Lower Training obligations for officers and soldiers)(20) n/a 450.00 698.00 816.00 
			 Group B—Officers, Officer Cadets and Soldiers in the Officer Training  Corps (OTC) 127.00 148.00 180.00 180.00 
		
	
	(20) In certain individual cases involving special business or domestic reasons, COs may permit trade qualified personnel of independent and specialist units to undertake the lower training liability.
	Note:
	Excludes non regular permanent staff officers and soldiers
	The number of TA bounties paid in 2004–05 can be found in the following table. It should be noted that these bounties paid were for qualification of bounty in the training year 2003–04.
	
		
			 Classification Recipients 
		
		
			 Year 1 2,098 
			 Year 3 2,288 
			 Year 5 14,585 
			 Not classified 2,96 
			 Total 21,167 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures include OTCs. 2. Those 'not classified' are personnel that do not fit into the standard categories.

Agency Staff (Coventry)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of agency (a) nurses and (b) doctors has been in each year since 1997 in Coventry South.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 January 2006
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Coventry teaching primary care trust (PCT) £000
		
			   Medical Nursing, midwifery and health visiting 
		
		
			 2002–03 504 0 
			 2003–04 771 0 
			 2004–05 359 0 
		
	
	Source:
	Financial Returns Coventry Teaching PCT 2002–03 to 2004–05.
	
		University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire National Health Service Trust £000
		
			   Medical Nursing, midwifery and health visiting 
		
		
			 1997–98 427 957 
			 1998–99 625 1,548 
			 1999–2000 415 2,288 
			 2000–01 634 2,986 
			 2001–02 888 3,144 
			 2002–03 3,870 3,001 
			 2003–04 5,478 1,715 
			 2004–05 4,348 479 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures given are for the Coventry Teaching PCT, and the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, and relate to the cost of agency nurses, midwifery and health visiting, and doctors.
	2. Information for Coventry Teaching PCT is only available for 2002–03 to 2004–05.
	Source:
	Financial Returns University Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 1997–98 to 2004–05.

Dentistry

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people were registered with an NHS dentist in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset, (c) South Somerset and (d) England in each year since 1995.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 18 November 2005
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		General dental services (CDS) and personal dental services (PDS), Number of patients registered and percentage of people registered with an national health service dentist in England, local authorities in Somerset and Yeovil parliamentary constituency as at 30 September each year Number
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Registration data  
			 England 27,147,294 23,898,728 24,118,683 24,527,730 24,297,247 
			   
			 Bath and North East Somerset local authority 114,364 101,669 99,742 91,237 85,386 
			 North Somerset local authority 106,935 96,827 96,103 96,503 100,591 
			 South Somerset local authority 107,139 94,947 94,514 91,510 87,724 
			 West Somerset local authority 18,343 18,176 18,358 21,325 21,265 
			   
			 Yeovil parliamentary constituency 71,804 62,580 61,960 58,606 56,576 
		
	
	
		
			  2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Registration data: 
			 England 24,217,483 24,295,652 23,639,904 24,168,352 
			  
			 Bath and North East Somerset local authority 83,155 85,386 83,451 85,819 
			 North Somerset local authority 101,010 102,404 106,115 108,022 
			 South Somerset local authority 82,208 100,255 83,849 86,666 
			 West Somerset local authority 22,319 22,432 24,530 23,300 
			  
			 Yeovil parliamentary constituency 53,658 75,527 62,093 64,707 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Registrations per head of population  
			 England 56 49 49 50 49 
			   
			 Bath and North East Somerset local authority 69 61 60 54 50 
			 North Somerset local authority 58 52 51 51 53 
			 South Somerset local authority 72 64 63 61 58 
			 West Somerset local authority 55 54 53 61 61 
			   
			 Yeovil parliamentary constituency — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Registrations per head of population 
			 England 49 49 47 48 
			  
			 Bath and North East Somerset local authority 49 50 48 50 
			 North Somerset local authority 53 53 55 56 
			 South Somerset local authority 54 65 54 56 
			 West Somerset local authority 63 63 69 65 
			  
			 Yeovil parliamentary constituency — — — — 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The drop in registrations between September 1997 and September 1998 is mostly attributable to the reduction in re-registration period from two years to fifteen months.
	2. Most PDS schemes that have registrations have a re-registration period in excess of fifteen months, so the figures for PDS schemes are generally higher than they would have been for the same attendance pattern under CDS.
	3. Prison registrations are included in these figures.
	4. Salaried dentist registrations are not included in these figures.
	5. A dentist with a GDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or agreed with the PCT.
	6. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual dentists.
	7. The areas have been defined using practice postcodes within the current boundaries.
	8. Areas have been defined using the Office of National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory.
	9. Population data at constituency area are not available.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Mental Health

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effects of the use of prone restraint in (a) mental health and (b) care institutions; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: While all restraint positions are potentially harmful, there is no empirical evidence which indicates that the prone position carries a greater risk of harm to patients than other restraint positions.
	Individual authorities are required by the Code of Practice of the Mental Health Act 1983 to have clear policies on the use of prone restraint and other forms of physical restraint. Physical restraint should take place only as a last resort, not routinely. Any restraint used should also be reasonable in the circumstance, apply the minimum force necessary to prevent harm to the patient or others, for only as long as is necessary and be sensitive to gender and race issues. This advice applies in all healthcare settings and to all age ranges. Trusts should regularly audit their physical restraint procedures to ensure these are consistent with the framework of clinical governance.
	The Department emphasises the recognition and prevention of aggression and violence wherever possible and published guidance in 2004, "Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide: Developing Positive Practice to Support the Safe and Therapeutic Management of Aggression and Violence in Mental Health Inpatient Settings".
	We also commissioned guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which looked at the management of aggression and violence, including restraint. NICE published "Disturbed (violent) behaviour: the short-term management of disturbed (violent) behaviour in in-patient psychiatric settings" in February 2005.
	In September 2005, the National Health Service Security Management Service formally launched its training programme, "Promoting safer and therapeutic services", following the successful piloting of this in a number of national health service trusts.
	The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) is also reviewing positive practice standards in relation to the safe and therapeutic management of aggression and violence. NIMHE, together with the National Patient Safety Agency, who are undertaking a project on preventing and managing violence, will publish guidance and a checklist early in 2006 to ensure that all restraint procedures meet rigorous standards. The project team is also developing proposals for the accreditation and regulation of physical intervention trainers.

New Hospital (St. Albans)

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assurances her Department gave the former hon. Member for St. Albans of a new hospital being constructed by the West Hertfordshire NHS Trust.

Rosie Winterton: There have been no assurances given about the proposed new Hospital in Hatfield. However, in July 2004, my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Health (John Reid), did approve Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority's strategic outline case, "Investing in Your Health", which included the option of building a new hospital in Hatfield. A clear timetable was set out that would see East and North Hertfordshire National Health Service Trust completing and submitting a detailed outline business case for the new hospital by the end of 2006. Firm assurances can not be given because the final investment proposals are subject to confirmation as part of the business case process.

NHS Contracts

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what calculations were made to estimate the cost of (a) the consultant contract, (b) agenda for change and (c) the new general medical services contract, as provided in her Department's public expenditure questionnaire 2005 for the Health Committee; and whether there have been cost overruns on each of these contracts.

Liam Byrne: The consultant contract was costed on a methodology agreed with the British Medical Association and on that basis the estimated cost of the contract, and the funding, was £133 million in 2003–04 rising to £250 million in 2005–06. In late 2004, we adjusted the tariff for 2005–06 by £150 million in response to suggestions from the service that this was the further cost pressure. However, our national survey, published in February 2005, indicated that the actual additional cost to the service was around £90 million.
	Agenda for change costs were estimated from experience in a number of early implementer sites to be consistent with the agreed funding envelope of £480 million in 2004–05 rising to £950 million in 2005–06.
	There are concerns based on monitoring in a number of sample sites that initial costs may have been higher than expected, and follow-up work is currently being carried out on the costs of implementation within each strategic health authority to test this. The agenda for change funding envelope is due to increase in 2006–07 and 2007–08 and it is too soon to conclude whether or not the overall envelope will be exceeded.
	For the general medical services contract, forecast spend based on available primary care trust data is shown in the table.
	
		Forecast spend against PCT allocated resources £ billion
		
			 Financial year Allocation Outturn Over 
		
		
			 2003–04 5.7 5.8 0.1 
			 2004–05(23) 6.8 6.9 0.1 
			 2005–06(23) 7.4 7.5 0.1 
		
	
	(23) Forecast outturn, that is still subject to finalised PCT accounts.

Fire Services

Peter Viggers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what factors relating specifically to fire control led the Government to decide that the south east regional government area is the most appropriate area to be controlled from a single fire control centre.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The report "The Future of Fire and Rescue Control Rooms in England and Wales: Update 2003" by consultants Mott McDonald concluded that a regional approach is the optimal way of delivering fire and rescue control services. Government office for the regions boundaries have been chosen because they help maximise benefits and simplify issues such as funding, ownership and accountability. A further benefit is that the regional resilience teams, with whom the control centres will work, follow the same boundaries.

Housing

Lynne Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) council tenancies, (b) registered social landlord tenancies and (c) private landlord tenancies there were in (i) England, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) Birmingham in each of the last 20 years.

Yvette Cooper: Information is not collected centrally on the number of tenancies although estimates for social tenancies can be made using stock figures. The number of private tenancies can only be estimated from housing surveys and is not available at local authority level.
	Stock figures by local authority district and region are published for the local authority sector for 1994 to 2005 and the registered social landlord sector for 1997 to 2005 on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website in tables 116 and 115 respectively. Figures are also given for England and for the Government Office Regions. The links for these tables are at:
	Table 116: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/22/Table116Excel127Kb_ id1156022.xls
	Table 115: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/21/Table115Excel96Kb_ id1156021.xls
	The number of private sector tenancies can be estimated from housing surveys and the estimates for West Midlands and England are tabled as follows. Due to the size of these surveys it is not possible to obtain reliable estimates at local authority level.
	
		
			  West Midlands England (thousand) 
		
		
			 1984(25) 138 1,920 
			 1988(25) 127 1,702 
			 1991(25) 142 1,824 
			 1992(26) 138 1,724 
			 1993(26) 140 1,833 
			 1994(26) 150 1,869 
			 1995(26) 172 1,939 
			 1996(26)(27) 167 1,995 
			 1997(26) 164 2,053 
			 1998(26) 159 2,063 
			 1999(26) 153 1,998 
			 2000(26) 157 2,017 
			 2001(26) 167 2,035 
			 2002(26) 164 2,112 
			 2003(26) 173 2,212 
			 2004(26) 185 2,226 
			 2005(26) 176 2,385 
		
	
	1 1984 to 1991: DOE Labour Force Survey Housing Trailer
	2 1992 to 2005: ONS Labour Force Survey
	3 1996 figures adjusted because of change in methodology

Housing

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many hectares of (a) greenfield and (b) brownfield land have been developed in each London borough in each year since 1997; how many new homes have been built in each development; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what percentage of new housing development in each London borough has been on brownfield land in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The available estimates are from Land Use Change Statistics, shown in the following tables. Amounts of land changing to residential uses are shown up to 2003. Estimates of percentages of dwellings on previously-developed land are also shown for 2004 on a provisional basis. Numbers of new dwellings built on all individual developments could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Total numbers of dwellings built in each London borough are published in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Housing Statistics.
	
		(a) Land changing to residential use from greenfield land: 1997–2003: London Hectares
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total 1997–2003 
		
		
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1 5 2 1 0 1 1 10 
			 Barnet 3 0 1 0 2 2 1 8 
			 Bexley 8 5 0 0 1 8 0 22 
			 Brent 0 0 5 6 2 3 0 16 
			 Bromley 1 2 2 2 1 3 1 12 
			 Camden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Croydon 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 
			 Ealing 0 1 2 0 0 3 0 6 
			 Enfield 1 1 2 3 3 0 0 10 
			 Greenwich 2 5 1 2 4 1 0 15 
			 Hackney 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Haringey 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Harrow 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 
			 Havering 1 0 0 4 1 0 4 9 
			 Hillingdon 0 0 1 1 4 0 1 6 
			 Hounslow 0 2 2 0 1 3 0 8 
			 Islington 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 5 
			 Lambeth 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 
			 Lewisham 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 
			 Merton 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 
			 Newham 3 1 4 1 2 2 2 14 
			 Redbridge 1 0 1 6 1 0 0 9 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Southwark 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 
			 Sutton 0 1 2 6 1 0 0 10 
			 Tower Hamlets 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 7 
			 Waltham Forest 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 6 
			 Wandsworth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Westminster 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 London 39 33 28 38 25 28 13 206 
		
	
	Note:
	0 means less than 0.5 hectares
	
		(b) Land changing to residential use from brownfield land: 1997–2003: London Hectares
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total 1997–2003 
		
		
			 City of London 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 
			 Barking and Dagenham 5 11 3 11 7 3 4 43 
			 Barnet 8 8 11 5 18 5 16 72 
			 Bexley 3 4 3 5 5 10 7 37 
			 Brent 4 5 4 5 5 4 10 36 
			 Bromley 10 6 12 12 18 21 13 93 
			 Camden 6 3 2 2 2 2 0 17 
			 Croydon 9 9 7 4 11 9 8 57 
			 Ealing 2 2 4 2 3 3 5 21 
			 Enfield 6 10 8 11 22 7 4 68 
			 Greenwich 6 12 12 11 21 11 15 88 
			 Hackney 11 6 4 6 5 5 10 46 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 7 2 1 1 2 1 0 16 
			 Haringey 5 2 2 3 2 4 5 23 
			 Harrow 5 14 3 2 4 4 4 35 
			 Havering 3 4 1 5 11 4 2 31 
			 Hillingdon 11 8 19 10 5 3 4 59 
			 Hounslow 14 4 6 2 7 10 4 47 
			 Islington 6 3 3 3 2 5 3 25 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 7 
			 Kingston upon Thames 9 10 9 6 6 2 2 43 
			 Lambeth 5 7 5 11 6 6 1 42 
			 Lewisham 10 3 4 8 5 4 6 40 
			 Merton 6 5 3 2 2 7 1 27 
			 Newham 11 7 5 9 2 8 7 50 
			 Redbridge 7 5 7 8 8 10 4 50 
			 Richmond upon Thames 15 5 5 8 3 6 3 46 
			 Southwark 17 12 4 9 7 9 12 70 
			 Sutton 8 7 3 8 4 12 10 52 
			 Tower Hamlets 16 16 14 10 12 4 11 84 
			 Waltham Forest 17 13 1 5 1 1 8 47 
			 Wandsworth 9 15 7 6 1 2 2 41 
			 Westminster 8 7 2 6 4 5 2 34 
			 London 261 225 177 201 212 185 187 1,447 
		
	
	Note:
	0 means less than 0.5 hectares
	
		Percentage of dwellings built on previously-developed land(25): 1997–2004 London Percentage
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Average 1997–2004 
		
		
			 City of London 100 100 100 100 100 — — — 100 
			 Barking and Dagenham 92 68 62 93 96 71 86 92 81 
			 Barnet 70 100 95 100 92 76 94 100 90 
			 Bexley 30 43 100 100 84 54 97 100 63 
			 Brent 95 100 47 45 73 55 100 100 71 
			 Bromley 94 80 84 86 93 88 94 94 89 
			 Camden 98 100 100 100 85 100 81 100 97 
			 Croydon 70 74 97 92 97 97 99 83 87 
			 Ealing 91 79 68 94 100 48 100 36 73 
			 Enfield 82 95 82 81 88 97 95 100 88 
			 Greenwich 75 69 92 86 85 92 99 95 86 
			 Hackney 92 100 70 100 100 96 100 100 94 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 96 96 87 100 96 100 80 100 95 
			 Haringey 100 95 100 83 100 100 100 100 97 
			 Harrow 100 99 100 100 86 92 86 100 95 
			 Havering 77 94 85 56 96 100 40 100 81 
			 Hillingdon 98 100 95 95 56 100 89 100 91 
			 Hounslow 97 66 78 98 91 76 92 100 86 
			 Islington 90 . 97 97 97 83 100 100 100 95 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 100 93 100 93 100 62 100 100 90 
			 Kingston upon Thames 97 76 100 98 90 100 80 100 90 
			 Lambeth 54 100 100 99 95 100 69 100 89 
			 Lewis ham 85 100 95 100 100 95 96 99 94 
			 Merton 97 100 68 57 100 100 100 100 91 
			 Newham 76 94 56 91 45 82 83 100 78 
			 Redbridge 88 92 92 58 86 99 100 94 85 
			 Richmond upon Thames 99 90 91 97 99 97 99 88 96 
			 Southwark 93 98 100 100 100 100 89 99 96 
			 Sutton 99 83 62 59 89 100 100 100 85 
			 Tower Hamlets 81 92 97 100 97 88 100 100 93 
			 Waltham Forest 100 96 100 55 100 86 95 62 89 
			 Wandsworth 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			 Westminster 100 92 100 100 100 100 100 100 98 
			 London 87 87 86 84 89 87 93 94 88 
		
	
	(25) Excluding conversions

Overcrowding (London)

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his latest estimate is of the number of households in London living in overcrowded housing conditions.

Yvette Cooper: The number of households in London that do not meet the bedroom standard over the three-year period 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 was 194,000.
	Information on compliance with the statutory overcrowding standard is not collected systematically and reliable estimates for London on this basis are not available. However, in the autumn of 2001, it was estimated that 25,000 households across the whole of England were living in conditions that breached these standards. This was based on data from the "Survey of English Housing" for the period 1997–98 to 1999–2000 and from the 1996 "English House Condition Survey".

RNIB Talking Books

Michael Wills: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of local authorities meet the costs of the Royal National Institute for the Blind talking books for users scheme.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government do not hold this information centrally; however, according to the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), 131 English local authorities subscribe to the RNIB talking books scheme.

Departmental Expenditure

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Government spending in each year since 1997 was allocated to (a) Her Majesty's Court Service, (b) predecessor judicial institutions and (c) magistrates courts.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	The information can be found in the following table.
	
		Analysis of judicial spend for David Taylor PQ January 2006 All figures shown in £ million
		
			  Year ending March 
			  1996–97 Actuals 1997–98 Actuals 1998–99 Actuals 1999–2000 Actuals 2000–01 Actuals 2001–02 Actuals 2002–03 Actuals 2003–04 Actuals 2004–05 Actuals 2005–06 Budget 
		
		
			 Total Government spending, (total managed expenditure) 315,963 322,735 332,689 340,852 364,082 387,605 417,970 455,233 484,105 518,600 
			   
			 (a) Her Majesty's Court Service n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 993 
			 Percentage of TME n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.19 
			
			 (b) Predecessor Judicial institutions: Court Service 225 174 260 135 339 425 509 503 481 n/a 
			 Percentage of TME 0.07 0.05 0.08 0.04 0.09 0.11 0.12 0.11 0.10 n/a 
			
			 (c) Magistrates Courts 287 274 344 267 307 350 319 315 336 n/a 
			 Percentage of TME 0.09 0.08 0.10 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.07 n/a 
		
	
	1. 2005–06 was the first year of operation of the HMCS inclusive of the magistrates courts. The figure shown here represents the latest delegated budget position.
	2. Prior to 2005–06, DCA allocated funds to local authorities to cover only 80 per cent. of the funding of the Magistrates Courts Committees. The balance of funding came from the LA themselves and this figure is not reported above.
	3. Unification changes funded in 2005–06 relating to harmonising of the magistrates courts into the central Government accounting framework. The key changes to the magistrates costs included 20 per cent. balance of funding from ODPM (£87 million), capital charges introduced with the new resource accounting methodology applied to the magistrates element (£73 million) and in addition there were also some DCA HQ departments transferred across into HMCS (£24 million).
	4. Figures are shown in terms of net costs, i.e. after netting off any income from fees and fines. Capital spend is included within both comparators and depreciation is subtracted from the combined figures, with the exception of the magistrates courts which did not charge depreciation on the assets before 2005–06. Note that estimated depreciation figures have been used.
	5. The 2004–05 figures represent latest estimated provisional outturn and are subject to change.
	6. Figures for 1996–97,1997–98 and 1998–99 have been drawn from previous years DCA departmental reports, which did not report on a Resourcing Accounting and Budgeting Stage 2 basis. Therefore we have attempted to put these figures.

Gold Reserves

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the sale proceeds were of gold reserves sold in the last five years; and what the current equivalent value is.

Ivan Lewis: 395 tonnes of gold were sold from the reserves between July 1999 and March 2002. The proceeds in dollars, and further details, can be found on page 27 of "Review of the sale of part of the UK gold reserves" published by the Treasury in October 2002 (http://www.hm-treasury/.gov.uk/media//9EFEF/Gold Reserves.PDF).
	At closing market prices on 30 January 2006, the total value of this gold would be approximately £4,082 million.
	The programme was part of a prudent restructuring of the foreign currency and gold reserves aimed at achieving a better-balanced portfolio. As a result of the programme a one-off reduction in risk of approximately 30 per cent. was achieved (as measured by value-at-risk).
	The proceeds from the sales were reinvested in interest bearing foreign currency assets in broadly the same proportions as the foreign currency assets held in the net reserves (40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; and 20 per cent. yen) and these have earned returns over this period.
	It is inappropriate to measure gains or losses resulting from fluctuations in market values over a short-term period.

Population Estimates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the net change to the (a) number of households and (b) population size in each government office region in each of the next 20 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 2 February 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning the projected change in households and population over the next 20 years. I am replying in her absence. (47878)
	Household projections are the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The 2002-based interim household projections are the latest available set and these are being updated to take into account more recent information on household formation and the 2003 based subnational population projections. Table 1 shows average annual household growth for the Government Office Regions in England between 2001 and 2021.
	Table 2 shows the projected net population change for the Government Office Regions in England.
	The population projections are demographic trend-based projections that indicate what the population levels of an area are likely to be if recently observed trends in fertility, mortality and migration were to continue. They take no account of future development which may affect trends.
	Like subnational population projections, household projections are trend based and illustrate what would happen if past trends in household formation were to continue into the future. The projections are heavily dependent on demographic assumptions used. These projections are not policy based forecasts of what the government expects or intends to happen.
	
		Table 1: Projected net household growth for Government office regions in England 2002-based interim household projections Thousand
		
			  Additional households per year 2001–21 
		
		
			 North East 3.0 
			 North West 15.5 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 12.8 
			 East Midlands 15.9 
			 West Midlands 14.4 
			 East 24.6 
			 London 46.4 
			 South East 33.9 
			 South West 22.6 
			 England 188.6 
		
	
	Source:
	ODPM's 2002 Based Interim Household Projections
	
		Table 2: Net population change for Government office regions in England 2003-based subnational population projections Thousand
		
			  North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands East London South East South West 
		
		
			 2006 -3.0 9.7 13.9 22.7 12.2 36.7 45.1 44.4 33.0 
			 2007 -2.3 10.9 14.3 22.8 13.0 36.8 46.1 44.9 33.3 
			 2008 -2.2 11.0 14.3 22.5 13.0 36.7 46.6 44.5 32.9 
			 2009 -2.1 11.3 14.5 22.5 13.3 36.8 47.4 44.5 32.8 
			 2010 -1.8 11.9 14.9 22.5 13.8 37.0 48.3 44.9 32.9 
			 2011 -1.6 12.5 15.1 22.5 14.3 37.4 49.0 45.4 33.0 
			 2012 -1.6 13.0 15.3 22.6 14.7 37.8 49.6 46.0 33.1 
			 2013 -1.5 13.6 15.4 22.7 15.1 38.0 50.1 46.3 33.2 
			 2014 -1.4 14.0 15.6 22.8 15.5 38.2 50.2 46.8 33.5 
			 2015 -1.2 14.4 15.9 23.0 15.8 38.4 50.1 47.3 33.8 
			 2016 -1.2 14.8 16.2 23.2 16.1 38.5 49.6 47.7 34.0 
			 2017 -1.1 15.1 16.3 23.3 16.2 38.5 49.1 48.0 34.2 
			 2018 -1.2 15.0 16.3 23.2 16.2 38.5 48.5 48.3 34.3 
			 2019 -1.3 14.9 16.1 23.0 16.1 38.4 47.6 48.5 34.4 
			 2020 -1.5 14.5 15.8 22.8 16.0 38.3 46.6 48.5 34.4 
			 2021 -1.6 14.0 15.6 22.5 15.6 37.7 45.2 48.2 34.1 
			 2022 -1.7 13.6 15.5 22.3 15.3 37.0 43.7 47.7 33.9 
			 2023 -1.7 12.8 15.3 21.9 14.8 36.1 42.3 46.8 33.4 
			 2024 -1.9 12.1 14.9 21.2 14.1 35.3 40.8 45.9 32.8 
			 2025 -2.2 11.2 14.1 20.5 13.5 34.5 39.5 44.8 32.1 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Tax Investigations

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2006, what estimate he has made of the cost of providing the information sought; what information he would need to collect to be able to answer the question at a proportionate cost; how many officials within (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs spent some or all of their working day on tax investigations in 2004–05; and what estimate he has made of public expenditure on tax investigations for that year.

Dawn Primarolo: In 2004–05 resourcing data within the Inland Revenue (now HMRC) was kept by reference to the operational directorates dealing with a mix of processing, customer support, compliance and corporate support work. To calculate the figures requested for investigation work it would be necessary to:
	identify all the "investigation" functions within each of the operational directorates,
	ascertain or estimate the time spent by staff on those investigation functions, and
	estimate the costs and full-time equivalent figures.
	Reconstructing the figures required for the historical period in the original question would have taken a considerable amount of research and analysis of disparate and, in the earlier years, paper based records.
	Our best estimate of staff employed on all Inland Revenue investigation work in 2004–05 is 14,800 at a cost of £424 million, this will include tax investigations.

UK Financial Regulation

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much central funding was spent on UK financial regulation in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: The following table shows Government expenditure on the Registry of Friendly Societies and on insurance supervision from 1995 to 31 November 2001. Other forms of UK financial regulation were not funded by the Government over this period. After 31 November 2001 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) assumed full responsibility for UK financial regulation. The FSA is funded via an industry levy and not by the Government.
	
		Central funding spent on UK financial regulation £ million
		
			  Registry of Friendly Societies (RFS) (including the Building Societies Commission (BSC) and Friendly Societies Commission (FSC)) Insurance supervision 
		
		
			 1995–96 (27)3 (28)6 
			 1996–97 (27)2 (29)5 
			 1997–98 (27)3 (29)6 
			 1998–99 (27)1 (30)6 
			 1999–2000 (31)2 (30)13 
			 2000–01 (31)3 (30)15 
			 2001–02 (31)3 (30)15 
		
	
	(27) Government expenditure plans 2000–01 to 2001–02 CM 4615
	(28) Government expenditure plans 1997–99 lo 1999–2000 Cm 3605
	(29) DTI expenditure plans 1998–99 CM 3905
	(30) Expenditure plans 2000–01 to 2003–04 CM 5116
	(31) Expenditure plans 2001–02 t o 2003–04 CM5116

Valuation Office Agency

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the staff manual for the Valuation Office Agency.

Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency's staff handbook "The Guide" has been placed in the Library of the House.